Middle East conflict to drive up airfares for Hong Kong travellers: analysts

South China Morning Post · Mar 2, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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The escalating conflict in the Middle East is set to drive up travel costs for Hong Kong passengers as many are forced to opt for more expensive direct routes to Europe, according to analysts.They said on Monday that the suspension of major transit hubs in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Doha in Qatar had left travellers scrambling for seats on direct flights or “conflict-free” paths to Europe, with surging demand set to trigger a spike in airfares.Global air travel has been disrupted after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, which led to the closure or severe restriction of operations at key transit airports across much of the Middle Eastern airspace.Law Cheung-kwok, a senior adviser at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Aviation Policy and Research Centre, said the ongoing conflict would inevitably burden passengers, citing a significant surge in oil prices.“While many originally planned to transit through the Middle East, they are now likely to rearrange their itineraries or switch to other airlines and avoid flying over the region for safety reasons,” Law said.“From the perspective of the airlines, they will certainly increase ticket prices to mitigate rising expenses. War makes everything expensive. There is no way around it.”